Dawid Malan and Reece Topley starred as England belatedly got their World Cup defence up and running with a resounding 137-run win over Bangladesh in Dharamsala.
Malan hit a brilliant 140 as England’s top-order dominated the Bangladesh attack with fellow Yorkshire batters Jonny Bairstow (52) and Joe Root (82) also making significant contributions.
Bangladesh did stifle England in the latter overs, mostly by taking wickets at regular intervals, but a total of 364 for nine was always likely to be a stiff challenge for the Tigers and so it proved.
Left-arm seamer Topley ran through Bangladesh early on, leaving them on 14 for three and effectively quashing their chances of building on their convincing win over Afghanistan on Saturday.
Dominant in Dharamsala! 💪
Up and running at #CWC23 🙌
Scorecard/Insights: https://t.co/nojIVE04XG pic.twitter.com/4oCSdjmIG0
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 10, 2023
Having been thrashed in their opener by New Zealand in a repeat of the 2019 final, England were eying a positive start in the foothills of the Himalayas and Malan and Bairstow duly obliged.
The pair put on 115 for the opening wicket, in just 107 balls, before Bairstow had his leg stump removed by Shakib Al Hasan.
Having moved past three figures, Malan went for one big shot too many, and was bowled by Mahedi Hasan. He and Root added 151 for the second wicket.
Root and captain Jos Butler ticked the scoreboard past 300 but the former’s dismissal for 20 prompted a flurry of wickets as England failed to build on their solid platform.
Mahedi finished with four for 71 from eight overs with Shoriful Islam claiming a very useful three for 75 from his allocated 10.
Topley’s heroics put England in a position they never looked like relinquishing despite excellent knocks from Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim, who made 76 and 51 respectively.
Topley finished with four for 43 as Bangladesh were all out for 227.
